


show me where to go

by justsomerain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Bonding, Chosen One, Clone Wars, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Jedi, Master & Padawan Bonding, POV Alternating, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:52:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsomerain/pseuds/justsomerain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Clone Wars, a conflict between the Republic and the Seperatists, have started.</p><p>A role reversal AU where Ahsoka Tano is the Chosen One.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christophsis I - Padawan

**Author's Note:**

> On Christophsis the battle between the Separatists and the Republic army is temporarily halted. Generals of the Republic Army Obi-wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano desperately await reinforcements, but are in for a surprise instead.
> 
> Loosely a rewrite of the scene where Ahsoka meets Anakin and Obi-wan in the Clone Wars movie, as introduction for the rest of the fic.

“A new Padawan?”

The Togruta woman grinned at her old master, one hand on her hip.

“Isn’t there a mourning period when your old Padawan makes Knight?”

All the answer she got from him was an exasperated sigh and the roll of his eyes. She just was like that, had always been like, from the moment Obi-wan had first laid eyes on young Ahsoka Tano, brought back by Master Plo Koon, who had a reputation for bringing in strays.

It had been many years since that day, when he himself had still been a Padawan, and his Master had been very interested indeed in what Master Plo claimed was the Chosen One of legend. A small Togruta girl who had smiled charmingly at the Council, and despite the doubts the Masters had had in her status as the Chosen One, there had been no denying that she was strong in the Force indeed, and that she was to be trained as a Youngling, and, when the time came, a Padawan.

Neither of them had been able to guess that this young child would one day be his Padawan, especially not considering the attitude he had had about taking a Padawan on when he had been one himself. But Ahsoka Tano had grown on him, no matter how reckless his old Padawan could be.

Obi-wan shook his head at her, companionable exasperation on his face.

“It’s good to keep in the swing of things. Really, you should give it a try yourself.”

The young woman scoffed at that, lekku swinging with the movement of her head.

“You know, I don’t think so. A Padawan would just slow me down.” 

She punctuated the frankly arrogant statement with a grin, baring her sharp teeth, causing Obi-wan to shake his head at her.

“You know, teaching is a privilege. It is part of your responsibility, you know, training the next generation.”

It seemed Ahsoka had no answer to that beyond rolling her eyes and making a rude noise at him, and he decided for now to let it go. This was a fight for another time, perhaps when they weren’t in an active warzone.

They had been on Christophsis for what felt like weeks now, and everything was low. Food, water, morale. Even with Clone Troopers who seemed nigh on inexhaustible, Obi-wan had to admit that they needed reinforcements, and quite badly.

This was a moment of respite, of almost calm in a what was an active warzone, even if the Separatists were keeping their peace for now, and he was thankful for it, for even being able to discuss taking on a Padawan after days of frantic fighting.

They had contacted Coruscant, of course, but reinforcements hadn’t come yet, so this ship that had signaled its descent into the planet’s atmosphere had better carry something for them, it didn’t even need to be soldiers fresh and ready to fight. They would settle for clean water, or bacta. Even plain bandages.

“I don’t know about that, Ahsoka. It could just be good for you. Taking on a Padawan isn’t just about teaching. You’d be surprised at what you learn yourself when teaching.”

His train of thought was interrupted by a signal from his comm unit, and that signal coming through could mean only one thing. The shuttle had reached the planet’s surface.

He motioned to Ahsoka as he turned, waving her in motion.

“Come, let’s see if these reinforcements have brought me my new Padawan.”

The Togruta woman matched her pace with his, for even though she was younger than he, she was taller, and for a moment Obi-wan smiled at it all. He had seen this young woman grow from a headstrong teen into an even more headstrong adult, and she had gone from somebody he viewed as his daughter to somebody who was his sister, if anything. Even if she could be obnoxious, and so incredibly reckless. 

Still, he figured, it could be worse, he had heard the stories about his old Master’s Padawans before him, he had heard of Knights and Masters who were not fortunate enough to see their Padawan ever grow into the Knights they could become. At least he had done so much, at least he had seen his Padawan reach her Knighthood, even if it was in a time of war unlike the Order had seen in many years, and somewhere he couldn’t help but feel like there might be a lot of Padawans reaching Knighthood younger than perhaps was entirely wise.

They reached the clearing just as the transport touched down, and he could see clones nudging one another as they looked in anticipation to the ship, no doubt just as eager as he was to have some relief, or even something else than food that was just on the edge of spoiling.

With a great hissing the cargo bay door lowered, and the ship itself… 

Obi-wan frowned, the cargo bay empty but for a young boy, a lightsaber at his hip. He blinked as he stepped into the light, halfway through raising a hand to block the light before apparently thinking better of it.

“A youngling…”

It came out before he caught himself, muttering to himself.

“Who are you?”

Ahsoka spoke up, forehead wrinkled and arms folded over her chest as she looked at the youngling.

He spoke, voice dull, almost flat in affect.

“‘M Anakin. Master Yoda sent me, he says you’re to return to Coruscant, it’s an emergency.”

The boy didn’t look either of them in the eye, and Obi-wan couldn’t help but frown. Before he had the chance to reply, Ahsoka spoke up again, and he sighed to himself, fighting the urge to calm down his old Padawan.

“You see that we’re in a bit of an emergency ourselves here, right? I mean, wounded, warzone. That sort of thing?”

A shrug was all she got for an answer, however, and Obi-wan knew with certainty that Ahsoka would have something to say about it before the day was over. To placate her a little, to make the boy feel more at ease, he spoke then.

“Our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we have been calling for help.”

“He hadn’t heard from you, so he sent me. I had to relay the message.”

“So they don’t know we’re in trouble? That’s great.”

Ahsoka had started pacing, long strides. Finally then the boy looked up at both of them, and it was obvious the boy was as annoyed by the miscommunication as they were. For what felt like an eternity they stood silently, staring at each other. Then the boy piped up.

“You could relay a message through the cruiser.”

He pointed to the communications device in the middle of the encampment, and that was enough to lighten Ahsoka’s mood, stopping her pacing. Time, Obi-wan thought to himself, shaking his head, time will even out her disposition.

The communications hub, though designed to be transported, and designed to do well in the field had suffered as much as the troops did during this long, drawn-out siege, and as such, it took time for it to start up, display any image at all. Obi-wan was used to it, and he took the time to study the youngling standing with them.

A young teen, no older than thirteen, with shorn hair that stood on end, in what could best be described as a dirty blond colour. The boy stood with hunched shoulders, heavy eyebrows drawn together as he stared at the hub, hands balled into fists at his side, and Obi-wan wondered what the boy was thinking that warranted such a hostile body language.

Certainly, a warzone may be a shock for a youngling, but most had mastered their emotions by now, but apparently not this one.

He stifled a sigh, refrained from shaking his head. At least he would know how to deal with a Padawan with at best tenuous control of their emotions. He had managed to train one until her Knighthood, so certainly he could do that a second time.

He was drawn out of his musings as the holo fizzed to life, one of the clone admirals standing at attention, in transparent blues.

“General Kenobi, General Tano, sirs. What can we do for you?”

Obi-wan exchanged a look with Ahsoka, before speaking.

“Admiral, our communications have been unable to reach all the way to Coruscant. If you could connect us to the Temple, that would be appreciated.”

The clone nodded at him, at Ahsoka, who stood with her arms crossed, eyes trained on the clone, before working on a for them invisible communications dashboard, clones walking past in the background, blue ghosts flitting in and out of the image.

“We’re under attack by separatist warships, but we’ll try to make contact with the jedi temple for you, sir. Please stand by.”

With that the image disappeared, the hum of the comms hub only indicating it was still at work, and before long the blue image of Master Yoda appeared before them.

Before either the Jedi Master or Obi-wan could speak, Ahsoka spoke, annoyance in her voice well disguised, and Obi-wan hoped that it would be lost in translation between the comms hub here and the one in Coruscant.

“Master Yoda, we are trapped here. We’re outnumbered, in no position to go anywhere, let alone Coruscant! All our support ships have been destroyed, w-”

The hologram image of Master Yoda nodded, staticky and glitching, and Obi-wan prayed that he would forget about the young Knight’s outburst. 

“Send reinforcement we w- You c- -pect-”, and then static was all they heard, the image disappeared, dissolved into the thin air.

“Master Yoda? Master?”

But no response, until the holo image came to life again, again on the clone admiral, hands behind his back, a look of regret on his face as behind him there was a scurry of frantic movement.

“We lost the transmission, sir, and we’ll have to leave the orbit immediately. More enemy ships have unfortunately arrived.”

The clone exchanged a nod with him, before continuing.

“We’ll get back to you as soon as we can, sir.”

The image disappeared, and Obi-wan could hear the comms hub winding down, a clear sign the connection had been broken.

Ahsoka sighed heavily, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she looked at Obi-wan, who shook his head at her. There would be time later for dealing with communications, there were more pressing matters to deal with first. The least of which was welcoming his new Padawan.

“Apologies for the chaos, young one, perhaps it’s time for some proper introductions.”

The youngling looked at the both of them, before mumbling something surely neither of them could have caught.

“Come again?”

“Anakin Skywalker, the new Padawan. Master”

The Master came late, and with some measure of — was that reluctance — behind it, but Obi-wan would not let it deter him from making a good impression. After all, if he was to train the teen, then it was best to establish from the get go that they could be friendly to one another.

He struck his best pose, dignified, arms behind his back, meanwhile trying his best to convey to Ahsoka, whom he knew was grinning beside him, that some measure of decorum wouldn’t hurt, for once.

“I’m your new Master, Obi-wan Kenobi.”

The lad looked between the two of them, from Obi-wan, to Ahsoka, and back to Obi-wan. When he spoke, it was brusquely.

“Master Yoda assigned me to her.”

He pointed, and Obi-wan frowned, a schooled look of confusion on his face, looking at Ahsoka, who threw up her hands.

“No, absolutely not.”

She circled around Obi-wan’s back, look at the young man with dismay, before pointing too.

“He was the one who requested a Padawan, not me. I didn’t ask for this!”

Anakin just stared at the Togruta woman, heavy eyebrows drawn together too.

“It’s what Master Yoda said. I’m assigned to Ahsoka Tano, and she is to oversee my Padawan training.”

It was, of course, unlike a Jedi to take pleasure out of things going the way this introduction was going, but Obi-wan couldn’t help but feel a little bit amused at it all, at the way Ahsoka responded as she threw up her hands. 

“But that doesn’t make any sense!”

Oh indeed, it may be unlike a Jedi, but if he was any judge this was going to be incredibly amusing to him.


	2. Christophsis II - Checkpoint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She did not, absolutely not, ask for a Padawan. To then be saddled with a Padawan was not something she had expected, or at all prepared for, and really wasn’t she just a little bit justified in her reaction?
> 
> Ahsoka deals with being thrown to the lions, or rather, being thrown a Padawan. Rex has _opinions_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, people seem to actually like this AU? Featuring more grumpy Padawan Anakin and Rex being Rex.

“But that doesn’t make any sense!”

Ahsoka looked at her old Master, and she knew of herself that she must have looked at least a little wild-eyed, but then again she did not, absolutely not, ask for a Padawan. To then be saddled with a Padawan was not something she had expected, or at all prepared for, and really wasn’t she just a little bit justified in her reaction?

The boy, Anakin, seemed as dismayed as she felt by it all, frowning up a storm.

She looked at Obi-wan again, in the hopes he had anything at all to say about this.

“We’ll have to sort this out later. As it stands it won’t be long before the droids find a way around our canons.”

No help at all, and — was he smiling? Ahsoka fought the urge to stick out her tongue at him in a childish retort, but the thought of the boy, her Padawan, seeing that was too much even for her. Instead she made a gesture at the man.

“I’ll check on Rex in the lookout post.” 

Rex would understand what she meant, surely. She could count on him taking her side, even if Obi-wan thought this whole situation was infinitely amusing. And that wasn’t speculation. She knew with absolute certainty that Obi-wan found this all incredibly amusing.

From the corner of her eye she could see Obi-wan smile, and Ahsoka sighed.

“You better take him with you. Who knows, he might learn something.”

Resigned, she beckoned for the boy to follow her, not looking around until a few paces on. That was something, he listened without her having to tell him specifically to follow her, even if she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted him following her around.

They walked in silence for a few moments before she looked to where the boy was walking, several steps behind her and to her left, keeping up with her pace surprisingly well, despite him obviously not having had his growth spurt yet.

She was certain humans had those, though it was of course very possible that Anakin was just a particularly small human.

He had his shoulders hunched, head down slightly, almost glaring out from under his eyebrows at whatever came into his view. Now, it had been some years since she had been a youngling, but she was pretty sure that the Order did its best to train such displays of emotion out of them. Anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to the Dark Side, and all that.

And if there was one thing Master Yoda liked to warn her about, it was the Dark Side.

After a moment the boy must have noticed her looking at him as they walked so, and he looked up at her, blue eyes guarded.

“Come on, Skyguy, no need to get mad at me. I didn’t do anything.”

She kept herself from bursting out in laughter as Anakin’s guarded look changed into a glare at the nickname. Perhaps not the best opener with her new Padawan, okay.

“Alright, alright.”

She held up her hands in a placating gesture, though she knew she was grinning, half an eye on their surroundings so she didn’t bump into any of the clones milling around, likely just as grateful as she was for a respite of fighting.

“If I’m to teach you, we should at least talk, right?”

The boy’s harsh look softened a little, though his hands were still balled at his sides. Then, after a moment he nodded, mutely, and Ahsoka kept herself from sighing. If her Padawan was really as silent as he seemed now this was going to be a very long apprenticeship for both of them.

“After all, Master Yoda assigned you to me. We’re stuck together, for now.”

She smiled, sidestepping a clone, and for the first time since the boy had arrived on Christophsis she saw him smile. So it was possible. And if he could smile, there was hope yet for him as her Padawan.

“He said you’d be well suited to teach me.”

For a moment Ahsoka was silent. The first words beyond his suggestion to use the cruiser to relay their request for backup that he volunteered. Of course, it could be a shock to arrive into a warzone for younglings, so it was entirely possible he had just been too shocked to say much, but she had to admit she had half and half expected Master Yoda to send her a Padawan who was chronically silent. 

The old Master did have something of a skewed sense of humour, and assigning her a Padawan who was the personification of an awkward silence would have been right up his alley.

The boy shrugged, looking away, almost embarrassed, and Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, a lopsided smile on her face, careful to hide her sharp teeth (despite everything it tended to spook some humans, she had learnt quite early on, not like there wasn’t stranger stuff, but there was something about it that seemed to get to their species).

“He said that?”

She looked the boy up and down, small for his ages, and skinny like he hadn’t had entirely enough to eat, and then smiled at him, shrugging.

“Well, they _do_ say that Master Yoda is wise beyond imagining, so we’ll have to trust him on that.”

A conspiratorial wink, and the boy’s face lightened up a little bit.

Bingo. 

If she knew anything that worked in getting kids to open up, it was a shared joke, especially one at the expense of their teachers. It wasn’t entirely _civilised_ , as Obi-wan would chastise, but it worked better than anything, in Ahsoka’s experience. Even the most teachers’-pet of younglings wouldn’t pass up a reason to laugh at their teachers.

Anakin looked around, a glint in his eyes that Ahsoka could best describe as mischievous, and Ahsoka tilted her head, looking at the youngling.

“Yeah, but they also say that Master Yoda looks a little bit like a dried up frog, and nobody goes to those for advice.”

Ahsoka couldn’t help but laugh then, shaking her head as she walked up the last step to the checkpoint. Though she was still holding some reservations about the boy’s temperament he at least knew how to make a person laugh, and she could see the boy had at least stopped balling his fists at his sides.

There was still hope for him, it seemed.

The checkpoint was on a terrace of one of the buildings, providing an excellent vantage point, from where you could see for miles, and so it was not entirely a surprise that Rex had ensconced himself on it with a group of his brothers once the droids had pulled back.

The clone stood with his back to them, binoculars to his eyes, standing out among the identical men with his bleached hair and the patterns on his armour. He raised a closed fist, no doubt in signal to his brothers where he was pointing the binoculars, and then turned, device lowered.

Ahsoka nodded slightly at the man, the captain of the company that had been with her since she had reached Knighthood.

“What’s the status report, Rex?”

The bleach blond man returned a minute nod before speaking.

“Quiet for now, sir, though they’re likely gearing up for another assault soon.” 

His brown eyes darted to Anakin, before looking at Ahsoka, a look of confusion on his face.

“Who’s the youngling?” 

Ahsoka noted with some amusement that Anakin was easily agitated as the boy bristled at the question, only the fact that he was human preventing his hair from raising up on end.

“I’m her Padawan. Anakin Skywalker.”

The boy’s fists were balled again, and Ahsoka shrugged over the boy’s head at Rex, rolling her eyes as if to say _well, there you have it_.

The clone frowned then at the boy, eyes narrowed, before addressing Ahsoka, eyes still on the boy, a note of incredulousness in his voice.

“Sir, I thought you said you’d never have a padawan.”

Implicit was the _I thought Padawan were supposed to be well behaved_.

She laughed then, putting a hand on Anakin’s shoulder, nodding at Rex.

“So did I, Rex. So did I.”

If it came to certainty, she was certain that at least she had been wrong about the boy being dull. If she was any judge the boy might actually be quite suited as her Padawan. Time would tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [reysskywalkering](http://reysskywalkering.tumblr.com)


	3. Abednedo - Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to fit quiet escort missions in with your idea of what being a Jedi entails, Anakin finds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of Anakin's past as a slave, and hints towards abuse he suffered during that time.

He had been Ahsoka’s — no, Master Tano’s, he corrected himself — Padawan for a little over a standard month now, and he wasn’t entirely certain how to describe it. Of course, as a Youngling you think that once you’re a Padawan, well, then you’ll have it made. You’ll go out with your Master, you’ll have adventures and see more of the Galaxy than just Coruscant and some of the safer planets.

A lightsaber at your hip and the galaxy at your feet.

Anakin had learnt quite quickly that there were upsides and downsides to being a Padawan.

Seeing the galaxy was absolutely true, and the adventures were true, if you considered fighting for your life adventures, but the galaxy at your feet? Not entirely.

Not that he was complaining, and he certainly couldn’t say that the adventures weren’t real adventures.

Even if it had been hard to be back… Was it still home? His mother wasn’t there anymore, as far as he knew, and he had been away for a good seven years. He wasn’t even sure that if she had still been there that she even would have still loved him. Because he had been taken away, and his mother had been left behind.

Not that he wasn’t grateful to the Jedi Order. He knew he had much to thank them for, and he should be grateful, but it didn’t mean it hurt any less that his mother was left a slave while he was given a new life in the service of the Jedi Order.

On the other hand, they had saved the day, and though he hated the Hutt (Master Yoda would have had something to say about that feeling, but he didn’t care) they had secured the treaty for the Republic, and that was worth trudging through the sand carrying a stinking worm that would only grow up to be a slaver like its father, right? It had to be worth it.

And Master Tano was kind, and strong, and people said she was the Chosen One, so really, there wasn’t a better teacher, right? After all, somebody like her would be stronger than anyone that he could think of. He liked her, and she didn’t look too closely if he didn’t call her Master like he was supposed to do.

Not that it wasn’t also a little frightening, to think that he had been chosen to become the Padawan of the Chosen One, because it was absolutely that. Prophecies sent a cold shiver down his spine, and he could only imagine how Ahsoka must feel as the one the prophecies were about. It was scary enough to look at it from the outside.

It wasn’t all adventures, though.

Sometimes they were sent to planets where they were supposed to be diplomats, or as fancy bodyguards for this Senator, and though he knew he should be paying more attention, it was at times hard to sit still when they were Jedi! They were supposed to be out there, fighting the Separatists.

Still, he was just a Padawan, supposed to listen and sit down if that was what his master told him.

That is what good Padawan did.

And if anyone asked, let the record show that he tried, at least for the first… It must have been two hours, sat outside a room where the Senator whom they were escorting was in what must have been an important meeting. He was sure that if it wasn’t important Ahsoka wouldn’t have pressed for him to behave in a manner befitting a Jedi, even if she did not usually think that was all that important.

But after a long time sitting still doing nothing (even if Ahsoka had told him to practise his meditations, even after a month already familiar with what Masters at the Temple had called his “flighty nature”) it was hard for him to focus.

And it was not, he would maintain, his fault that Master Tano had left him on his own, called inside for some reason or another. And he was absolutely responsible enough to be a Padawan, despite what had happened this time.

No, correction.

Might or might not have happened this time.

Several Clone Troopers were looking at him, their identical faces sporting expressions from amusement to Rex’s exasperation mixed with mild horror. (Anakin prided himself in discerning the expressions on the usually straight faced Clone Captain, and felt maybe a little bad for the man. After all, he had been kind enough to take him under his wing whenever Ahsoka was gone, and had shown him some things that set things a lot more solid for him than anything his Masters at the Temple had ever done.)

“It was an honest mistake!” 

Rex took a deep breath, obviously taking a moment, as the troopers behind him were in various stages of grinning at Anakin, with less to answer to than Rex less concerned with what Anakin had done now.

“You know what? Let’s pretend it was. You were still way off point, and I’m certain General Tano told you to stay where she left you.” 

The captain raised both dark eyebrows at him, and Anakin had to relent.

“You’re right, probably. But she also said I should follow the Force where it led me.”

That she had said he should follow the Force where it led him in his meditation was a whole different matter, and one, he felt, that might better stay under wraps. It probably meant less flak from Rex, though as it stood he didn’t think the man would let up any time soon.

He really hadn’t meant to cause any issues, and if he had known that the figure moving in the shadows had been a priestess, revered by all on this planet, then he wouldn’t have left his place by the door, instead of following his gut and aiming to stop a potential assassin or Separatist.

But he hadn’t known, and so he had done what seemed wisest. 

Surely his Master would see-

Some ways behind the small group of troopers a door opened, and there was no mistaking the orange skin of the person entering. Nor was there any mistaking her mood, shoulders back, face like a thunder cloud.

She put a quick hand on Rex’s shoulder, nodding at him, and Anakin caught a glimpse of the man’s expression, almost like pity for him, and as he took in Ahsoka’s face, he swallowed hard, self-congratulatory mood fading fast.

He may have patted himself on the back for how alert he had been too soon.

“I-,” he began, before being interrupted by a sound that almost sounded like the angry hiss of an angry sandcat.

“I told you to stay where you were, didn’t I?”

Anakin opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off again, his Master’s voice straining to keep calm, low enough not to carry.

“You knew you were supposed to stay near the door, and instead you embarrassed yourself.”

Ahsoka paused for a moment, and Anakin couldn’t help but flinch just a little, almost imperceptibly.

“You embarrassed me.”

She just looked down at him, and he was reminded of all the times during his life before when he had done something wrong, expecting a blow, or a zap, or anything, but instead Ahsoka just stared at him, eyebrows drawn together, shaking her head.

“Head back to the ship,” she then looked behind him, catching Rex’s attention. “Make sure he stays on the ship until we’re done here.”

Anakin didn’t catch the captain’s response, as his shoulders hunched forward, and he slunk off, followed by Rex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for taking so long, and for the emotional whiplash of this chapter. Anakin is a cocky kid who in the end also is an abuse and slavery survivor. This makes for some pretty mixed chapters.
> 
> If you want, you can find me on Tumblr at [reysskywalkering](http://reysskywalkering.tumblr.com).


	4. Coruscant - Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coruscant is a haven, sometimes.

The Coruscant sunsets were the most colourful she had ever seen, which made them beautiful, not as beautiful as those on Naboo, she wasn’t about to compare the sunsets here to those on her home, but beautiful still.

“You know it’s just the pollution making the colours, right?” 

An arm snaked around her waist from behind, and Padmé couldn’t help but smile.

Jedi were skilled in many things, and one of them was moving so silently that she wouldn’t hear them coming, and certainly not on the plush carpet of her apartment, certainly not when she was so distracted by the Coruscant sunset.

She turned in the other woman’s loose grip, and smiled up at the Togruta, standing on her tippy-toes to plant a kiss on her orange cheek.

“I thought you weren’t due to return to Coruscant for another month!” 

Ahsoka smiled back at her, widely, sharp teeth just visible, putting her other arm around Padmé’s back, before she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Plans changed. Master Yoda called us back, so that gave me time to visit you. After all, you’re what links us to the Senate. What would the Order do without our close friendship, after all?” 

She couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking her head. Funny though it may be, that was what they were forced to play act. Close friends, closer perhaps than was entirely proper for a Jedi and a Senator, but nothing that would be seen as untoward. After all, the Jedi Order strongly forbade attachment, and if they knew the truth some in the Senate would no doubt accuse her of being more in the Order’s pocket than they already did.

They had met only a year ago, at most, and only because Obi-wan had been an old friend, helping her during the siege on her home planet. So he and his Padawan had been a logical choice to guard her when there had been an attempt on her life.

Ahsoka had still been a Padawan at the time, and she had seemed almost shy when Padmé had first laid eyes on the Togruta woman. Of course, if you were to ask Ahsoka about it, she would deny it, or say it had been because she had been blown away. She hadn’t expected a Senator to be as beautiful as Padmé, after all, so she couldn’t be blamed if she had acted a little bit tongue-tied.

It had been Ahsoka who had saved her life during the night, and Ahsoka who had been sent into a Geonosian arena with, and it had been Ahsoka who had visited her after the start of what they now called the Clone Wars, her friend who was a newly made Jedi Knight, and who had hesitantly asked if she could kiss Padmé one late night after they had spent a day together as friends.

“What would they do indeed?”

If she had any guess, they would have found another Senator, though it was hard to find one who had the same feeling of obligation to the Order. Near enough all worlds had, at some point in time, had help from the Order, but Naboo was different. After all, she wasn’t the only politician with a vested interest in it, but with a Supreme Chancellor who came from the same world, Naboo was likely the best candidate for the Jedi Order to keep close ties to. With the Supreme Chancellor on their side they had a good enough position in the Senate, even if they claimed not to be politicians, and even if there were some who thought there was too much Jedi influence in the Senate.

But the Jedi were a force for good, and that was what was most important.

Ahsoka looked at her, one eyebrow raised, eyes soft. 

“What’s going on?”

She shook her head at that, banishing thoughts of politics from her head, smiling up at the other woman. She may care deeply for politics (a little too much, Ahsoka would say, there were other things, a sentiment no doubt gotten from Obi-Wan), but times like these, those precious moments when everything seemed alright, peaceful, were best kept for enjoying them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started uni, so I've got less time for writing, but I'll keep it up!
> 
> If you want to, you can find me on tumblr at [zaryanovaings](zaryanovaings.tumblr.com)!

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to crystaltongues/darthbanes for supporting this madcap scheme.


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